Bookshops in HK

[carlo]

As I mentioned before, I'm going to spend a couple of days in HK with some friends. I wonder if there are any bookshops that I shouldn't be missing while there. In the past I used to go to 商務印書館 and other smaller random places in 尖沙咀, but that's because I didn't have the time to explore any other area.

My interests lie in second-hand (ie, cheap) books in Chinese, and new titles on linguistics, literature, history or reference books. Last time I was there I saw many reprints of mainland editions: these are obviously not interesting for me, as they sell at 10 times the Beijing price.

Of course I'm willing to share recommendations on bookshops in Beijing if anyone's interested.

[skylee]

Take a look at this -> 新書店情報

Besides the Commercial Press, other book stores that I frequent include -

Page One (葉壹堂) - 9th Floor, Times Square; or Harbour City, or Fesitval Walk

樂文書店 - 1st Floor, 506 Lockhart Road (there are many small book shops along that section of the road, i.e. behind Sogo)

Cosmos Books (天地圖書) - 30 Johnston Road, Wanchai ( http://www.cosmosbooks.com.hk/topic_1/page_1.asp )

And there are also many small / old book stores on the 1st Floor of buildings along that section of Sai Yeung Choi Street around Mongkok MTR station.

These are all very common bookshops. And I don't know of any bookstores selling 2nd hand books.

[skylee]

BTW, since you are coming to HK, you may wish to visit this place -> 金管局資訊中心 . I've heard that the place is worth a visit (mainly because of its location).

And the special exhibitions at the HK Museum of Art are good (especially the one on Huang Yongyu) -> http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Arts/english/exhibitions/eexhibitions.html

[pazu]

But just wanna know, why are the books in Hong Kong so expensive?

[carlo]

Brilliant. Thanks a lot. This should do for three days. Not sure if I'll make it before March 28 though, might miss Huang Yongyu.

[skylee]

This is another major exhibition not to be missed ->

"From Eastern Han to High Tang : A Journey of Transculturation"

To explore the artistic and cultural changes that took place in China in this period, the National Administration for Cultural Heritage has assembled some 200 cultural relics from nearly 50 cultural institutions in 14 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, many of them important national treasures. The relics include gold and silver ware, glass ware, burial figures in pottery and wood, Buddhist sculpture, wall painting and textiles, the latter two rarely seen in exhibitions. Through these objects it is possible to examine the immensely rich cultural heritage of the period in a concrete way.

The relics are currently on show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and will be on view at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum from March to June 2005, when Hong Kong citizens will have the opportunity of seeing these splendid objects.

Exhibition Period 14 March 2005 - 10 June 2005

[carlo]

Thanks, I won't miss it then. A guidebook I bought the other day also mentions a place close to the university (? forgot which one) where they sell second hand books in English and Chinese, I'll have a look and let you know what it's like.

[Jive Turkey]

There is now a Xinhua bookstore in Hong Kong near Time Square. It's sort of between Causeway Bay and Wanchai. Most of their stuff is from mainland publishers and in simplified characters. I think they also have a lot of linguistics/applied linguistics books from Cambridge/Oxford published under license on the mainland. The prices of these books are about the same as those on the mainland. Some of these licensed books are not supposed to be sold in HK, but the store does it anyway (or at least it was a couple of months ago).

You can also find the same kind of books at a bookstore at CUHK. It's in the building behind 信和楼 (I think that's right). All of them are quite cheap. The range is obviously not as big as what you would find in Shenzhen or Guangzhou, but you may be able to find some of what you want.

[carlo]

I've been to the second-hand bookshop. The name is 'Coffee - Book' and it's in 半山區柏道 (can't remember the English, something beginning with p... Road ?), close to King's College. Cosy and chocked full with items, mostly English books and some Chinese, at very affordable prices, at least compared to the other places I have been to in HK.

After I brought the usual foot-high pile of books to the counter, the nice lady there asked my Beijing friend in Cantonese if I could really read Chinese, which I then had to translate into Mandarin for my friend. Life can be confusing at times....

Thanks Jive Turkey. I live in Beijing so finding those books is not impossible, but thanks anyway.

[li3wei1]

Does anyone know if the situation in #8 is still true? My wife will be going to HK soon and I might give her a list of books to pick up. Interested in simplified character, mainland-priced books.

[skylee]

I haven't really checked but my impression is that Xinhua is no longer there.

But the Taiwan giant Eslite will be opening a shop in Causeway Bay soon (not sure if it is already open but I saw the shop sign a few days ago). So if you are also interested in books in traditional characters and/or arranged vertically, go there.

PS - it looks like Xinhua in HK has closed all its retail outlets -> http://www.newchinabooks.com/index.php

[skylee]

In case anyone is interested, Eslite (誠品) is going to open its first branch outside of Taiwan in Causeway Bay, HK, on 11 August. The shop will be open 24-hour Thursday through Saturday. Eslite plans to eventually open 5 shops in HK.

Eslite has already prompted the Commercial Press HK to revamp its Causeway Bay branch.

IMHO Eslite's plan sounds a bit too ambitious. But I sincerely hope that it will be successful.

[skylee]

Here is a report on 文匯報 about Eslite -> 誠品書店首落戶香港 24小時不打烊

According to this report, Eslite will open a shop in Suzhou in 2014.

[gato]

Does make some sense to have a 24-hour bookstore in HK, as rent calculated in hourly terms is probably quite a bit higher than employee wages.